


A Warning Sign

by angelica



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Basically what I think about how the season is gonna end, F/M, I just needed to write my feels down, Season Finale Speculation, Some Spoilers, speculation fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-23 11:13:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3766024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelica/pseuds/angelica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It starts with a phone call.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Warning Sign

It starts with a phone call.

She is slouched in the leather seat of the car, looking out the window, watching the lights of the city pass by. He is sitting next to her, silent and it disturbs her because one thing she has learned about Ray Palmer is that he is as talkative as she is and prolonged silences are not a good sign.

She continues looking out, then recognizes the familiar scenery. He is driving her to her house and not to his penthouse. Despite dating for about a month now, he has never seen the inside of her apartment aside from that time he showed up unannounced just before her mother visited. That’s not a good sign, either.

“Felicity.” she hears her voice being called out when he stops the car before her building.

She doesn’t ask her why he brought her here. She lifts her head and turns to face him, only to see him looking like he is constipated or something. That’s not a good sign. She thinks maybe he has food poisoning or that the after effects of the beating he received is finally catching up with him. But no, he just remains silent for another second.

“This isn’t working out.” he says finally. “I love you. I love you with a lowercase l and I’m not mad at you for not saying those word back. Was I too quick? I was too quick, right?” he continues. She continues her streak of not saying something when he mentions the l word.

“Ray.” she says, but doesn’t know how to continue.

“I know you love Oliver. I get it.” he admits. “I’ve seen how you two are like together. He lost his mind when that meta-human had you.”

“Ray.” she repeats his name again, knowing that she doesn’t want to have this conversation now, not after the turmoil she has went through, not after Roy leaving, not after almost stopping herself from admitting to Oliver how she feels.

Then her phone rings. It’s the ring tone she has for Diggle. It’s definitely not a good sign because they were together only ten minutes ago.

She fishes the phone out of her purse and answers immediately. “John?” she says, her voice weak. Before he can answer, she just knows something is terribly wrong.

“It’s Thea.” he says, his voice full of emotion. “You need to come to Starling General, now.”

“I have to go.” The words come out quick. She doesn’t know what happened, but she just knows that she needs to be in the hospital now, with Oliver, for Oliver. “Ray, I… I’m sorry, I have to go. I can’t do this now.” She looks at him like she is pleading for him to let her be.

She can’t decipher the look on Ray’s face. She is expecting understanding and at least sympathy, but instead he looks like someone kicked his puppy. He doesn’t have any puppies due to allergies, but that doesn’t make the look of hurt on his face any different. “Oliver was wrong, you know.” he says.

“Ray, I…”

“He told me that you chose me. It was never me, was it?” he asks her. She can’t answer. “It was always going to be him.” She knows he is right, even if she can’t admit that to herself, not yet. Not when another likely tragedy awaits them, not when everything she has worked for, they all worked for for almost three years is gone. The Arrow is dead.

“Ray, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” she ends up telling him, because that’s the truth. Yes, she does worry about Oliver when he goes out to field. Yes, it did feel like her life ended when she thought his did. Yes, it was Oliver on her mind when she caught Lyla’s bouquet, and not Ray. Yes, she never had the urge to go look for jello when Oliver told her he loved her.

“Tell him that he is a lucky guy.” he nods and places a quick peck on her cheek.

She gets out of the car and runs to hers immediately, never once looking back at the black car, never keeping her eyes off the road until she reaches the hospital. She sees John with his head down, baby Sara sleeping in his arms, then sees Oliver from the corner of her eye sitting on the floor, with his head down. That’s never a good sign.

 

***************

 

The beeping noise is low and slow. The tears are wet and hot. There are too many tubes and wires for anyone’s liking.

Thea Queen was sliced through the abdomen with a long-edged sword in her own house, just before she could be told that Roy was alive.

It makes the tears flow harder.

Her vision is blurry, there is a lump in her throat, Oliver’s hand in hers is cold. Baby Sara is silent, Diggle is stoic. Everything is just unfair.

Ra’s Al Ghul has taken their mission from them. He has taken Oliver almost from her. He has taken Thea, his last family, from him.

Malcolm Merlyn shows up at the door, his face tear-stained. Even though she hates him, she can easily see that he is distraught with the events of the night. His grief seems real. Felicity knows that his training helped Thea defend herself against the demon, but also knows that Ra’s has gone after all of them because of him.

Oliver doesn’t even register his presence when he gets into the room and cradles Thea’s ice cold hand in his. She can’t help but notice the tears in his eyes.

“There is a way.” he says, turning away from the bed, looking at them. His voice is broken. That marks the first time that they hear about the existence of a magical healing pit that Ra’s Al Ghul has access to. Oliver finally reacts when Merlyn says it’s how he survived after the Glades fell.

“I’ll do it.” Oliver says. “That’s what Ra’s Al Ghul wants, that’s why he did…” he pauses and looks at Thea. Felicity stops breathing for a moment. She wants to argue, she wants to stop him, but she knows they are running out of options. They all heard what the doctors said. Thea’s chances are slim to none.

She stays with Oliver while Diggle makes arrangements. Oliver never looks away from Thea. She keeps her mouth shut about traveling to Nanda Parbat.

There is nothing keeping her in Starling City, not anymore, if Oliver Queen is not there. She made a promise to him to follow him a little further until this, whatever Ra’s Al Ghul is planning is, over. She’ll follow him anywhere, even if it leads them to the demon itself.

 

***************

The jet is silent and cold. She is not surprised when Oliver is surprised to see her sitting at her seat. She is not surprised when he tries to argue and make her leave, telling her that it is dangerous, that she shouldn’t be going to Nanda Parbat with him.

Diggle stands up from his seat and silences Oliver with a look. Defeated, he takes the empty seat beside her and for a moment, it looks like he is collapsing.

He thought Roy was dead. He thought he had lost control over everything. He thought he was alone.

Now Thea is under the care of two paramedics at the back of the jet, hanging on the very thin line between life and death.

He lost so much. She wants him to know he is not going to lose her.

So she grabs his still cold hand, threads her fingers through his and rests her head against his shoulder.

“Felicity?”

“Yes.” she responds, looking at him from where her head lies.

“Thank you.”

 

***************

 

The path leading to Ra’s Al Ghul’s headquarters lacks lights. It’s pitch dark and they are in the middle of a desert, following a path that’s barely there. Oliver’s steps are calm and calculated as he holds Thea in a white cloth that resembles a shroud.

It is as cold and lifeless as she expected in Nanda Parbat. She is walking a step behind Oliver next to Diggle, with Malcolm Merlyn following them. Nobody dares to speak.

She seems some lights in the distance, then there are shadows moving around them. The lights are right next to them a moment later, and then he steps out of the shadows. So that’s Ra’s Al Ghul. He is slightly shorter and younger than she expected. She wishes she could throw daggers at him with her eyes.

“I’m here to accept your offer. In exchange for my sister’s life.” Oliver says at once, his voice direct and not showing the emotions she knows he is hiding.

Someone attempts to take Thea from Oliver’s arms but he doesn’t let them. She knows that they’d have to pry Thea out of his dead hands, though she doesn’t want to think about that image.

The next hour happens in a blur. They are led to the palace, they take her and Diggle to a room with guards outside while Oliver and Malcolm are to attend to what is referred as a ceremony. The palace is cold and she wishes her jacket was thicker. She sits very close to Diggle and hopes he would ease her worries, but he seems as worried as she is.

She doesn’t like being worried. She doesn’t like having no plans, she doesn’t like letting things happen while she sits back and watches.

She fakes an excuse and asks to be taken to a bathroom, then swiftly disappears. She wants to find Ra’s Al Ghul’s chamber, but instead he finds her.

“Felicity Smoak.” he calls her out and for a moment, she hates her very own name. She doesn’t like it coming out from his mouth. “So you are the reason why Oliver Queen survived that fall.”

“And you’re the reason why he was there in the first place.” she blurts. Her hatred fuels her courage. “You tried to take everything away from him, but you won’t succeed. You can’t change the man he is.”

“You’re wrong, my child.” he says. “Come tomorrow morning, Oliver Queen will be no more. He will be the Demon’s Head.”

“I still don’t know why you want him to replace you.” she starts. “I mean, you look like you enjoy your position and enjoy the fringe benefits it brings to you. Why do you want to give it all up? Do you want to go backpacking through Europe? Do you want to pick up embroidery? Why?” she asks.

He laughs. “I like you, child. You have the fire. Too bad it won’t mean anything.” he says, confusing her. “You need to tell Oliver goodbye, tell him how much you love him and do it now.” He disappears as quickly as he appeared.

 

***************

“I love you.”

 

***************

 

The Arrow died. Oliver Queen is gone. Al Sah-him appears.

It’s the same man underneath whatever he is wearing. Whether it’s a suit or a hood or a fancy kevlar, he is still the same man she loves. The same man she believes in.

Replacing Ra’s Al Ghul and becoming Al Sah-him doesn’t stop Oliver from doing good in his city. His costume might be different, he might be using a different bow that she didn’t get custom-built, but it’s the same man still. He still saves people, he still sacrifices himself, he still loves her. And she loves him.

She doesn’t get to see him as often as she wants. Their nights are busy, their kisses brief, their love-making quick. He still smiles at her when he sees her, he still tells her that he loves her and means it, he still kisses her like everything depends on it.

They don’t show it to the outside world.

He is the head of the League of Assassins, the demon’s head. He is leading deadly assassins. She is supposed to be someone from his old life.

The League doesn’t know that it’s all for show.

It all led to this. Malcolm taking Thea under his wing and having her kill Sara. The League of Assassins declaring war on Team Arrow. Oliver facing Ra’s Al Ghul off on a mountain. Oliver almost dying then becoming the new Ra’s Al Ghul. It all leads to dissembling the League.

It’s a gradual process. She works day and night to find all the information she can find. Oliver makes decisions he doesn’t like. They work with Malcolm Merlyn. Thea still heals from her brief insanity that’s a side-effect of coming back to life after three days in the valley of death.

It happens. She doesn’t know how, but assassins seem to have a code of honor and side with Oliver. He changes their mission, uses their skills for doing good, uses the resources available to help those in need.

The former head of the demon doesn’t take it well. They all knew he wouldn’t. They were prepared.

It ends with a phone call.

It’s Thea who calls in the middle of the night as Felicity lies in bed next to Oliver, taking advantage of a rare night spent together. She runs her hands through his cropped, short hair as he gives short answers and nods.

“It’s done.” he says as he hangs up.

“Is Malcolm?” she asks, not able to ask the full question.

“Yeah. He’s dead.” Oliver says. “So is Ra’s. The League is no more.”

She feels a momentary sadness for the man who sacrificed his life for Thea and Oliver, then wraps herself closer around Oliver as the realization that everything, every terror, every trouble, every obstacle they faced is now gone and done.

“What are we going to do now?” Felicity asks, unsure of what the future holds now that they don’t have an enemy left to fight against. She is sure that there is still a city to fight for.

“Now we rest.” Oliver replies as he leans down and kisses her. “I love you.”

“I love you.” she responds. She settles back into his arms and a smile forms as her eyes falls to the image of their hands joined. Sunlight beams in through the windows.

It’s a new day. That’s a good sign.

THE END

 

**Author's Note:**

> I had some time to kill at work and why not spend it writing speculation fic?
> 
> Title from Coldplay.
> 
> Please review if you read! Thanks!


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